WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/COMTD/AFT/W/32 
22 February 2012 
 (12-1020) 
Committee on Trade and Development 
Aid for Trade  
 
 
 
PROGRESS IN IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2012-2013  
AID-FOR-TRADE WORK PROGRAMME 
 
Background Note prepared by the Secretariat1 
  
I. INTRODUCTION 
1. This background note has been prepared to update Members on the progress that has been 
made in implementation of the 2012-2013 Aid-for-Trade Work Programme. The note follows the 
structure of the Work Programme found in document WT/COMTD/AFT/W/30.  
2. The background note is not a comprehensive an alysis of ongoing Aid-for-Trade actions.  It 
covers only the activities of international organizati ons, as reported to the WTO, which are in support 
of the implementation of the 2012-2013 Aid-for-Trade Work Programme.
2  Members are encouraged 
to complement this note by re porting on their activities at the Committee on Trade and Development's 
23rd Session on Aid for Trade to be held on 29 February 2012.   
II. RESOURCE MOBILIZATION AND IMPLEMENTATION ACTIVITIES 
3. At the Third Global Review of Aid for Trade (3GR) held in July 2011, the President of the 
African Development Bank (AfDB) reported that  the AfDB had continued to support the 
Aid-for-Trade Initiative by strengthening lending for hard and soft infrastructure.  Over the last 
decade, for example, the Bank has committed approximately US$10 billion to these activities and, in 
the past three years, has financed more than 15 0 projects supporting investment into Africa.  In 
addition, in accordance with the G-20 call, AfDB has provided countercyclical investment in trade 
finance in order to minimize the impact of th e economic crisis.  The AfDB will hold its 47th Annual 
Meeting from 31 May to 1 June 2012.  For more information see http://www.afdb.org . 
4. At the 3GR, the President of the Asian De velopment Bank (AsDB) noted that between 
2008-2010, the Bank's additional crisis-related lending assistance amounted to approximately 
US$8.6 million.  This amount included US$2.5 billio n for its Countercyclical Support Facility and the 
expansion of its Trade Finance Program.  The Bank also plans to further increase its support of trade 
facilitation and continue to help strengthen trade institutions through loans, grants and technical 
assistance.  In addition, AsDB has established th e Asian International Economist network to help 
build the region's trade policy capacity.   
5. The Asian Development Fund (ADF) covers a four  year period.  The ninth replenishment of 
the Fund (ADF-X) is scheduled to conclude in 2012  and discussions regarding priorities for the tenth 
replenishment (ADF-XI) covering the period 2013- 2016 began in 2011.  A first replenishment 
                                                      
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and without prejudice to 
the positions of Members and to their rights and obligations under the WTO. 
2 As such, the note omits many of the Aid-for-Trade activities of international organizations and 
excludes the activities of bilateral donors.   WT/COMTD/AFT/W/32 
Page 2  
 
  meeting held in September 2011 focused, inter alia , on development effectiveness, food security, and 
climate change.  A second meeting, which took place in December 2011, concentrated, inter alia , on 
evaluation studies of the ADF, inclusive growth, gender equality and women' s empowerment, and the 
role of private sector development.  The next re plenishment discussion is scheduled to take place in 
Manila, Philippines, in March 2012.   
6. The AsDB's 45
th Annual Meeting is scheduled to take place in Manila, Philippines from 
2-5 May 2012.  The meeting will include knowledg e sharing and partnership events focusing on a 
number of financial and topical development issues su ch as, for example, "Climate Change and Green 
Asia", "3 Years After the Financial Crisis",  as well as a development partners session entitled 
"Development Co-operation in a Changing World" .  The ADB Institute will also launch its book 
entitled "Role of Key Emerging Economies - ASEAN, the People's Republic of China and India.  The 
full programme for the Annual Meeting can be found at http://www.adb.org/annualmeeting/2012/ . 
7. At the 3GR, the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development 
(EBRD) indicated that EBRD continued to operate at  a level of around €9 billion in annual financial 
commitments.  He noted the improvement in the appe tite for trade finance as well as the recovery in 
output and trade and emphasized that the Bank remain ed ready to respond to any renewed volatility.  
EBRD will hold its Annual Meeting and Bu siness Forum in London, United Kingdom, on 18 and 
19 May 2012.  With "Managing in Turbulent Times"  as the central theme of the meeting, high-level 
discussions will focus on issues facing current EBRD  countries of operations and will also look at 
challenges facing the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, a new, a dditional region of operations for 
the Bank.  Further information can be found at http://www.ebrd.org . 
8. Also at the 3GR, the President of the In ter-American Development Bank (IaDB) noted the 
pivotal role the Bank has played during the recent economic downturn, particularly with regard to 
assisting the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region to overcome limited access to credit for international trade.  At the end of 2010, for ex ample, the Bank had approved credit lines and had 
issued guarantees in support of more than 1,000 in dividual international trade transactions amount to 
over US$1.1 billion.   
9. The IaDB is committed to using Aid for Trade as a tool to address obstacles related to, for 
example, low productivity, innovation, education and infrastructure gaps.  As such, between 2008 and 
2010 the Bank approved over US$17 billion in Aid fo r Trade Other Official Flows in addition to 
approximately US$600 million in concessiona l AfT flows aimed at improving economic 
infrastructure, productive capacity, and trade polic y.  IaDB's 2010 General Capital Increase also 
provides a new window of opportunity for boosting the Bank's AfT support.  The Bank is committed 
to lending 15 per cent of its operations by 2015 to achieve global integration, with a strong focus on 
regional integration.  In 2009 the Bank pioneered th e creation of an AfT Fund thanks to contributions 
from the Governments of Canada, the UK and Switzerland.   
10. The IaDB will hold its 53
rd Annual Meeting in Montevideo, Uruguay on 16-19 March 2012.  
Events during the meeting will in clude dedicated seminars on, inter alia ,:  "FINPYME:  A 
Value-added Program for Sustained SME Growth";   "Public-Private Partnerships:  Forging 
Partnerships for Progress";  "Improving Infrastructure:  A Requirement for the Future";  and "The IDB, Civil Society, and Governments:  Creating New Opportunities for Collaboration".  For further 
information see http://www.iadb.org .  
11. The Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC ) was established to promote the economic 
development of the IaDB's regional developing me mber countries by encouraging the establishment, 
expansion, and modernization of private enterprise s - notably small- and medium-sized enterprises 
(SMEs) - in the LAC region.  As a supplement to the Bank's other activities, the IIC assists, alone or 
in association with other lenders or investors, in  the financing of the establishment, expansion and  WT/COMTD/AFT/W/32 
 Page 3 
 
 
  modernization of enterprises, utilizing such instru ments and/or mechanisms as the Corporation deems 
appropriate in each instance;  facilitates SME's ac cess to private and public capital, domestic and 
foreign, and to technical and managerial know-h ow;  stimulates the deve lopment of investment 
opportunities conducive to the flow of private a nd public capital, domestic and foreign, into 
investments in the member countries;  takes in  each case the proper and n ecessary measures for their 
financing, bearing in mind their needs and principl es based on prudent administration of the resources 
of the Corporation; and provides technical cooperati on for the preparation, financing and execution of 
projects, including the transfer of appropriate t echnology.  In 2010, the IIC approved US$21 million 
in working capital loans - more than double the amo unt from the previous year.  Further information 
can be found at http://www.iic.int . 
12. At the 3GR, the Chief Executive Officer of  the International Islamic Trade Finance 
Corporation (ITFC) highlighted the Islamic Deve lopment Bank Group's (IsDB) efforts to support and 
strengthen intra-Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) trade which included IsDB trade financing 
amounting to US$40 billion, the equivalent of a pproximately 60 per cent of the Group's lending 
volume, as well as ITFC trade financing amounting to  US$2.6 billion of which 44 per cent has been 
allocated to least-developed countries.  Other effo rts included:  trade and investments through the 
Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of investme nt and Export Credit which, over the three-year 
period 2009-2011, amounted to US$682.6 million;  private sector support through the Islamic 
Corporation for the Development of the Private S ector which, by the end of February 2011, had 
accumulated financing approvals amounting to US$1.8  billion allocated to 204 projects;  support to 
several infrastructure projects which, over th e three-year period 2009-2011, amounted to 
US$7.5 billion;  and support through the Special Pr ogram for the Development of Africa for which 
US$4 million had been earmarked for the period 2008 -2012 and a total financ ing volume planned of 
US$12 billion.  The IsDB will hold its 37th Annual Meeting in Khartoum, Sudan from 31 March to 
4 April 2012.  For more information see http://www.isdb.org . 
13. The 2011 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Gr oup and the International Monetary Fund 
(IMF) took place on 23-25 September 2011 in Washington, D.C.  The event centered around the 
meetings of the joint World Bank-IMF Developmen t Committee meeting and the IMF's international 
Monetary and Finance Committee meeting, and was a ttended by government officials, private sector 
representatives, civil society representatives, jour nalists, and other observers.  The Development 
Committee expressed concern about the turbulence in global financial markets and widespread fiscal 
strains, noted that volatile commodity prices and pressures on food security we re critical challenges, 
and posed possible global impacts, particularly fo r the poor.  The Committee also noted that, while 
developing countries had been the main contributo rs to recent global economic growth, the economic 
crisis had reduced their capacity to withsta nd further shocks.  The Committee underscored its 
commitment to support strong, sustainable, balanced  and inclusive growth in all its member countries 
and reaffirmed the need to work cooperatively to meet its development commitments to achieve the 
Millennium Development Goals by 2015 and to support the poor in developing and emerging 
countries through this period of instability, as well as in the long term.  In this respect, the Committee 
commended the G-20 for anchoring development in its  agenda.  The Spring Meetings of the World 
Bank Group and the IMF will take place in Wash ington, D.C. from 20-22 April 2012.  Further 
information can be found at http://www.imf.org  and http://www.worldbank.org . 
14. In Part I of his concluding statement3 at the WTO's Eighth Ministerial Conference (MC8) held 
in December 2011, the Chairman referred  to the Elements for Political Guidance4 that had been the 
subject of consensus in the General Council.  A lthough not legally binding, in the Elements for 
Political Guidance Ministers had taken note of the progress achieved on Aid for Trade and of the Third Global Aid for Trade Review.  They had agreed  to maintain, beyond 2011, Aid-for-Trade levels 
                                                      
3 WT/MIN(11)/11.   
4 WT/MIN(11)/W/2.   WT/COMTD/AFT/W/32 
Page 4  
 
  that at least reflect the average of the period 2006-2008 and to work with  development banks to 
ensure the availability of trade fi nance to low-income countries. Ministers had also reiterated their 
commitment to funding the WTO Global Trust Fund in a predictable and timely manner to enable the 
Secretariat to continue to provide the Technical  Assistance and Capacity Building required.   
15. In Part II of his concluding statement, the Chairman, under his own responsibility, provided a 
summary of the main points which had emerged fro m the MC8 discussions.  Noting that the summary 
was neither exhaustive nor legally binding, he said there had been broad rec ognition of the importance 
of Aid for Trade to build trade capacity and facilitate  the integration of beneficiary countries into the 
multilateral trading system.  The specific role of the Enhanced Integrated Framework for LDCs had 
been underscored.  Some Ministers had called for ensuring that Aid for Trade funding addressed the 
need of developing counties, particularly the sp ecific needs of small, vulnerable economies and had 
urged cooperation with other releva nt institutions to that effect.  The importance of the regional 
dimension of Aid for Trade and of trade finance had also been highlighted. 
16. An Inter-Agency Consultative Group Meeting on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) 
took place in New York, United States on 10 February 2012 to discuss the development of a roadmap 
for the preparatory process leading to the 10-year review conference of the Almaty Programme of 
Action.  The holding of the review conference - which is likely to be held in early 2014 - was decided by a resolution of the UN General Assembly taken in November 2011.  The Consultative Meeting was 
chaired by UN-OHRLLS Under-Secretary-General Chei ck Sidi Diarra, and was attended by a number 
of agency representatives (UN-OHRLLS, UNDP, UN-DESA, UNCTAD, World Bank, ITC, ADB, the Common Fund for Commodities, WCO, the Intern ational Road Transport Union, ESCAP, ECE, 
UNFCCC, UNECA, ECLAC, and WTO).  In preparation for the conference in 2014, ten thematic 
events are planned including on trade (with a focu s on Aid for Trade and trade facilitation);  climate 
change and desertification; vulnerability;  infrastru cture;  transit;  productive capacity;  South-South 
cooperation;  support measures;  commodities;  and investment.  The first thematic meeting – on 
LLDC trade, with a focus on Aid for Trade and tr ade facilitation – will take  place in Kazakhstan on 
10-12 September 2012 within the framework of an LLDC Trade Ministers' meeting.   
17. The thirteenth United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII), 
which will be held in Doha, Qatar fro m 21-26 April 2012, has as its central theme 
"Development-centred Globalization:  Towards Incl usive and Sustainable Growth and Development".  
Several dedicated discussions will be organized during the event with the following sub-themes:  
enhancing the enabling economic environment at all levels in support of inclusive and sustainable 
development;  strengthening all forms of cooperatio n and partnerships for trade and development, 
including North-South, South-South and triangular  cooperation;  addressing persistent and emerging 
development challenges as related to their impli cations for trade and development and interrelated 
issues in the areas of finance, t echnology, investment and sustainable development;  and promoting 
investment, trade, entrepreneurship and related development policies to foster sustained economic 
growth for sustainable and inclusive development.   Further information, including on registration 
procedures and programmes for pre-events as we ll as the main conference, can be found at 
http://www.unctadxiii.org .    
18. A Workshop on "Aid for Trade, Sustainable De velopment and Green Economy" will be held 
at the WTO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland on 29 February 2012 to discuss the contribution 
which Aid for Trade can make to sustainable deve lopment and green economy.  From recognition of 
sustainable development as a key principle to guid e the Aid-for-Trade Initiative, a growing body of 
work is now emerging which underscores the c ontribution which Aid for Trade is making to 
sustainable development in practice.   A joint OECD/WTO background document which discusses the 
evolving synergy between sustainable development and Aid for Trade has been circulated in document WT/COMTD/AFT/W/31.  Further inform ation about the Workshop can be found at 
http://www.wto.org .  WT/COMTD/AFT/W/32 
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  III. MAINSTREAMING  
19. The Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) is c ontinuing its work and delivering on trade and 
development for LDCs.  The programme is acclaime d by LDCs and recently graduated countries who 
lead in driving the process, supported by 23 donor s to the EIF Trust Fund with pledges totalling 
US$235 million and contributions totalling approxim ately US$155 million as of 31 January 2012.  
20. EIF-approved Tier 1 projects as of January 2 012 had increased to 40, including 29 multi-year 
Tier 1 "Support to National Implementation Arra ngements (NIAs)" projects put in place to 
mainstream trade and ensure coordinated implem entation of priority activities proposed by the 
Diagnostic Trade Integration Studies (DTIS) Action Matrices; seven pre-DTIS projects; as well as 
four DTIS Updates. Work is also underway on Tier  2 projects, with three projects approved and over 
20 projects in various stages of development for submission in 2012. These projects are focused on 
sectors targeting export growth and income generati on in support of pro-poor  livelihoods, compliance 
with standards and value addition, a nd in services including in tourism. 
21. Building on this momentum, the future EIF programme will focus on key priority action areas 
mapped out in the EIF Strategic Action Plan up to 2013 which was approved by the EIF Board at its 
meeting in November 2011. The Strategic Action Plan  sets out the expected deliverables focused on 
driving forward delivery on the ground in EIF c ountries in three areas:  (i) consolidation and 
acceleration of delivery for Tier 1 and Tier 2 projects; (ii) operationalization of the EIF Monitoring 
and Evaluation (M&E) Framework, including the EIF Mid ‐Term Review; and (iii) enhancing the 
effectiveness of NIAs.  The Mid-Term Review  of the EIF programme, which will present an 
important opportunity to take st ock and show what has been achieved, is scheduled to begin in 
April/May and is due for completion by Septem ber 2012.  The EIF M&E Framework and the EIF 
programme log frame were finalized  in 2011.  An M&E Capacity and Systems Development 
Workshop was held for Anglophone countries in December 2011 to further roll out and operationalize the M&E Framework, as well as to assist and prepar e countries in evaluating their national projects. 
An M&E Capacity and Systems Development Work shop for Francophone countries is scheduled to 
take place in Burkina Faso in early 2012.  Th e EIF programme will continue to strengthen the 
delivery of results through partnership support, in  particular on capacity building and assistance to 
countries in the implementation of priority projects on a demand-driven basis. As part of the EIF capacity-building programme, the EIF is supporting countries in a range of areas that promote 
effective delivery.  More tailored training work shops are scheduled in 2012 including on trade 
mainstreaming (in collaboration with UNDP), on gende r mainstreaming to be held in Senegal and 
Zambia (in collaboration with ITC), and project de velopment (in collaboration with STDF), as well as 
on the M&E and programmatic approa ch in project development. 
22. Building on the EIF country profiles and film, the EIF Trading Stories project will be carried 
out to profile impact to date and results in a ra nge of countries. The project will involve a dedicated 
resource book and film chapters, as well as a number of online articles and features, focusing on disseminating information on good practice, lessons  learned and showcasing country results.  Support 
is also being made available to countries to  support national plans on stakeholder outreach and 
advocacy.  
23. The EIF Board will hold its next meeting on the 3
 April 2012.  Further information on the 
EIF's activities can be found at www.enhancedif.org . 
24. The Fourth United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries (UN LDC-IV), held in 
Istanbul, Turkey on 9-13 May 2011, adopted the Is tanbul Declaration and the Istanbul Programme of 
Action for the decade 2011-2020 (IPoA).  The IPoA contains eight priority areas of action, each supported by concrete de liverables and commitments.  These include productive capacity, agriculture, 
food security and rural development, trade, commodities, human and social development, multiple WT/COMTD/AFT/W/32 
Page 6  
 
  crises and other emerging challenges, mobiliz ing financial resources for development and 
capacity-building, and governance at all levels.  Em phasis is placed on equity at all levels through 
empowering the poor and marginalized, and ensuring social justice, democr acy, gender equality and 
sustained, including and equitable economic growth  and sustainable development.  In order to 
maintain the momentum built from the successful  conclusion of LDC-IV, a roadmap has been 
developed to ensure a rapid move towards the im plementation phase of the newly adopted IPoA.  The 
roadmap includes global objectives (promoting consensus building in support of IPoA implementation, and follow up, monitoring and revi ew of the IPoA), regional objectives (promoting 
regional consensus building in support of IP oA implementation), and national objectives 
(mainstreaming the IPoA into LDCs' national deve lopment plans and strategies, and into donor 
countries' and emerging countries' development coopera tion strategies) with target dates for action.  
Further information is available at http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/ldc/home . 
IV. PRIVATE SECTOR 
25. The International Trade Centre (ITC), Senegal, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the 
Netherlands (CBI) are working together on a project  aimed at bolstering expor ts of Senegal's mangoes 
to Europe.  The Senegal NTF II Project "Enhanci ng export competitiveness of mangoes for the Niayes 
region in Senegal", which was signed on 16 December 2011 during MC8, focuses on the export 
marketing, packaging, quality and trade intelligen ce issues along the value chain to better comply 
with requirements of European markets and will assist in providing efficient support services to producers, exporters and SMEs in the mango industry through practical training, coaching, advisory 
services and business matchmaking.  Further information is available at http://www.intracen.org/Mou-
signed-to-increase-mango-exports-from-Senegal/ . 
V. MONITORING AND EVALUATION  OF IMPLEMENTATION AND 
DEVELOPMENT EFFECTIVENESS 
26. The 2010-2011 Work Programme on Aid for Trade recognized that Trade Policy Reviews 
could provide a useful mechanism to examine th e mainstreaming process.  Steps were taken to 
systematically integrate an analysis of national Af T strategies and experience as part of the Trade 
Policy Review (TPR) process and on the basis of experience gained from analysis of Aid for Trade in TPRs for six "pilot" countries (Belize, China, Ho nduras, Malawi, the United States, and the joint 
review of Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali), an AfT analysis has been included in an increasing number 
of TPRs.  
27. As part of the 2010/2011 AfT M&E exercise,  the WTO submitted a case story on the 
mainstreaming of Aid for Trade into the TPR Mechanism (see: 
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/52/58/47818742.pdf ).  The case story examined  the experience gained 
from the six pilot TPRs and described how, given the successful experience w ith these pilot TPRs, the 
AfT analysis in the TPR process had been expanded.   The process has proven especially useful for 
middle-income developing countries and LDCs, which have used the TPR process to enhance internal 
coordination on AfT priorities, develop national AfT strategies and collaborate with regional 
institutions to take forward recommenda tions made during the TPR process.   
28. Eleven TPRs have been held since the 3GR, many  of which have included an analysis of Aid 
for Trade.  TPRs that have taken place thus far in  2012 include for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Turkey. 
29. The TPR of Saudi Arabia took place on 25 and 27 Ja nuary 2012.  Saudi Arabia highlighted its 
support to the G-20 leaders' agreement to maintain  momentum on AfT initiatives to enable developing 
countries to fully share the benefits of trade liberaliz ation.  Saudi Arabia also  outlined its development 
assistance provided in particular to countries most af fected by the financial crisis.  This included, for 
example, US$500 million for the World Food Progra mme and US$500 million for the Energy for the  WT/COMTD/AFT/W/32 
 Page 7 
 
 
  Poor Initiative adopted by Saudi Arabia during the Jeddah Energy Conference.  Saudi Arabia has also 
undertaken a number of measures to implement the plan agreed upon by G-20 leaders in 2008 in an 
attempt to reduce the effect of the financial crisis  and to ensure sustainable and balanced economic 
growth.   
30. In view of the fact that it only recently acced ed to the WTO, Saudi Arabia has noted its 
interest in receiving technical assistance with regard  to WTO agreements in order to ensure effective 
participation in the multilateral trading system.  Saudi Arabia would therefore like to benefit from 
participation in any relevant national seminars a nd workshops organized by the WTO Secretariat or in 
cooperation with other inte rnational organizations. 
31. The TPR of Kuwait took place on 7 and 9 Fe bruary 2012.  Kuwait became the first 
developing country to establish a Fund to provide economic assistance to fellow developing countries.  
The Kuwait Fund5 extends grants and loans on concessionary  terms to finance development projects 
in developing countries.  It also provides technical  assistance to finance the costs of feasibility studies 
of projects, as well as the training of nationals of the borrowing countries.  In addition, the Fund 
subscribes in the capital of international and regi onal development institutions.  Kuwait sees the Fund 
as providing a bridge of friendship and solidarity between the state of Kuwait and the developing 
nations and a means of promoting sustainable development around the world.  Although initially 
created to assist Arab countries, the mandate and operations of the Fund were  extended (in 1974) to 
include developing countries in general.  During 50 years of its operations, the Fund has provided 
loan and grant assistance to 102 beneficiar y countries amounting to over US$15 billion. 
32. Due to its relatively small trade policy establis hment Kuwait has expressed an interest in 
receiving technical assistance to enhance their active and effective participation in WTO activities.   
33. The TPR of Turkey is scheduled to take place on 21 and 23 February 2012.  As a member of 
the G-20, an acceding country to the EU, and an emerging economy, Turkey has taken major initiatives to support LDCs in their efforts to erad icate poverty.  Turkey hosted the UN Ministerial 
Conference on LDCs in 2007, and the UN LDC-IV Conference in May 2011.  Turkey has placed 
LDC-related topics high on the agenda of the in ternational community and has pledged to make 
US$200 million available annually from 2012, for tec hnical cooperation programmes, projects, and 
scholarships.  Turkey's investments in LDCs currently amount to nearly US$2 billion and the 
Government aims to increase this to US$5 billion by 2015, and US$12 billion by 2020.  As a donor to 
the EIF, Turkey has successfully implemented num erous development projects in 23 partner countries 
through programme coordinating offices of the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency 
(TIKA).
6  As a G-20 member country, Turkey actively participates in the work of the G-20 by, for 
example, giving due consideration to providing a bala nced and resilient growth in LDCs and to efforts 
to integrate these countries more into the multilateral trade system.   
34. In the area of regional co-operation, Turkey, together with Iran and Pakistan, formed the 
Economic Cooperation Organizati on (ECO) which now includes Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, 
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajik istan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.  The aim of ECO is to 
foster sustainable socio-economic development a nd cooperation projects have been launched in 
priority areas such as energy, trade, transportation,  agriculture, and drug control.  The Developing-8 
(D-8) Organization for Economic Co-operation establis hed at the Istanbul Summit in June 1997 aims 
to improve its member states' (Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and 
Turkey) position in the world economy, diversif y and create new opportunities in trade relations, 
enhance their participation in decision-making at the international level, and to improve the standards 
of living of their populations. 
                                                      
5 See http://www.kuwait-fund.org/  
6 The TIKA is engaged in development assistance projects in more than 100 countries worldwide.    WT/COMTD/AFT/W/32 
Page 8  
 
  35. As part of the accession partnership between Turkey and the EU, a Pre-Accession Assistance 
Rural Development Programme (IPAR D) framework has been established which sets out Turkey's 
measures for 2007-2013 to achieve cons istency with the EU's rural de velopment policy and the CAP.  
The IPARD programme identifies the key sectors requi ring further assistance to comply with EU 
regulations (dairy and meat, fruit and vegetables, and fisheries).  IPARD measures (cofinanced by the 
EU) include investment aid to modernize agri cultural production, processing and marketing; 
capacity-building and support for producer groups; environmental measures, and diversification 
measures.  In 2010, Turkey adopted a new national Rural Development Plan (2010-2013), which focuses on rural employment, human resources a nd poverty, settlement and infrastructure, 
environment and natural resources.  Projects invol ve cofinancing the beneficiaries to mobilize 
private-sector resources.  
36. On 23 January 2012, a joint meeting on Aid for Trade was held of the Development 
Assistance Committee and the Working Party of the Trade Committee (DAC-WPTC) of the OECD.  
In his capacity as Chairman of the CTD, Ambassador Maurping of Lesotho provided updates to the meeting on the Third Global Review of Aid fo r Trade and the new AfT work programme for 
2012-2013, highlighting areas where OECD inputs were requested.  The DAC-WPTC approved 
proposed work on "Managing Aid to Achieve Trad e and Development Results" to be led by the 
OECD.  This will move the AfT monitoring and eval uation forward by focusing on the country level 
processes in a number of pilot countries (including Ghana, Viet Nam and Colombia) and redoubling efforts to develop a menu of meaningful performan ce indicators.  Among the proposed outputs for the 
work will be a new series of AfT country factsheet s.  Representatives from Colombia, Ghana and Viet 
Nam voiced support for the project.  Other work streams approved included further research on 
binding constraints to improved trade performance  focusing on the agriculture sector, work on AfT 
and green growth, and a Project Proposal on Regiona l Perspectives.  Although Members endorsed the 
output areas for the 2013/2014 biennium, the DAC Ch air noted that the DAC also wants to pursue 
other topics and that the final decision on budget al locations would depend on Members' ranking of 
priorities.   
__________